1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to temperature control systems and methods and, more particularly, to a new and improved self-cleaning oven temperature control system and method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Self-cleaning ovens and temperature controls therefor are old and well known in the prior art as exemplified by United States Pat. Nos. 3,121,158; 3,122,626; 3,310,654; 3,327,094; 3,353,004; 3,569,670; 3,648,012; 3,738,174; 3,924,101; 4,166,268; 4,214,224; and 4,369,352. Conventionally, the bake temperature controls for many prior art self-cleaning ovens are capable of being recalibrated in service to compensate for oven components that deviate from design specifications or to accommodate individual user preferences. See, for example, the above-identified 3,569,670 patent and the 3,924,101 patent and the 4,369,352 patent. Some prior art temperature control systems for self-cleaning ovens are designed to maintain a constant clean temperature even though the bake temperatures have been recalibrated and offset by a predetermined amount from nominal values. Recalibration of the bake temperatures in other prior art systems necessarily affects the clean temperature.
The usual approach to achieving the offset of nominal bake temperatures during recalibration, particularly with respect to digital electronic microprocessor based oven temperature control systems, is to provide and continuously utilize, whether in hardware or software, a temperature offset signal for adjusting either a sensed oven temperature signal or a user provided desired temperature signal. Normally, each time a subroutine containing the temperature control algorithm is executed by the microprocessor in the oven temperature control system, the temperature offset signal is sensed and utilized to modify either the desired temperature signal or the sensed oven temperature signal to control the energization of the oven heating elements. In some cases, it may be more simple and direct to eliminate the need to access and utilize such an offset temperature signal each time the subroutine containing the temperature control algorithm is executed by the microprocessor.